Dream Within A Dream
by Lunar1
Summary: Potentially trapped in a loop of time, Sam and Jack deal with the events of Threads. Major Threads and Moebius spoilers.


Even as dusk painted the sky a pinky-orange, the heat was still an oppressive force. Her brow and back were prickled with sweat. She touched her wrist to her forehead and wiped away the beads of moisture.

Daniel was sat beside her, comfortably close. "Hot?" he asked.

She nodded. "Don't know how you ever managed to work in this heat," she confessed.

He shrugged. "You do get used to it. Eventually."

"This must be wonderful for you," she added after a moments silence, "Every archeologist's dream, I suppose, to actually go back in time and visit the cultures you've studied."

He smiled. "I confess, there is an element of this that I'm enjoying. It also reminds me of Abydos." There was a note of sadness in his voice as he finished his sentence and she put her hand on his left shoulder, the heat making any more intense human contact unwanted.

"I'm glad you're back, Daniel," she said by way of reply, "I was worried about you."

"Yeah. Well, at least you saved me the hassle of having to reapply for all those things they take off you when you die. Like a driver's licence. Did I tell you the trouble I had last time reapplying? So many awkward questions..."

"That was Jack's doing," she replied, "He refused to hold a memorial service for you until we were sure... said that you were just waiting for us to say a bunch of nice things about you before you waltzed back in through his office door."

Daniel chuckled. "That sounds like Jack." His brow quirked. "So you're on first name terms at last, then?"

She blushed and looked at the lacings of her boots, cursing Daniel's observance. "Oops."

Daniel's smile widened, sensing her uncomfortableness. "While we're on that subject, how exactly _are_ you and Jack?"

"Oh... um. We're... um..."

"Um?"

"Um," she affirmed.

The archeologist rolled his eyes. "Um. Well, it's a start."

She flicked his shoulder. "Don't tease me."

"Sorry."

"It's not nice."

They sat in companionable silence for a while. The slash of green that wound its way through the desert sands on both banks of the Nile was black in the half-light. There were lights flickering on the West Bank, torches burning. Around them, the camp was preparing for the evening meal. O'Neill, always one to delight in the cooking of raw meat on an open fire, was currently aiding (although hindering was probably a more accurate term) a small boy known to Carter only as Omar.

Personally, she couldn't understand how he could stand to be near the fire when the temperature was so high. Her lungs seemed heavy in the dry air, the heat like a hand pressing down on her. She found her gaze drawn from the beauty of the river to the comedy of errors that was occurring over their meal. Daniel's attention was caught as O'Neill burnt himself and swore loudly. Omar repeated the word, making the two scientists laugh out loud as O'Neill hastily tried to rectify his mistake, which resulted only in Omar chanting the obscenity louder and louder.

Hearing their laughter, an exasperated O'Neill passed the kebab skewer back to its owner and headed over to them. Daniel's mouth twitched as the older man hesitated for a second and then sat on Carter's right.

He stood up. "I think I'm just going to go and... go... over there. See you at dinner."

They watched him leave, boots leaving a fine tread in the sands. In the silence that followed his departure a light wind began to blow. Carter tilted her head and closed her eyes lazily, enjoying the blessed cool as the tracks were nibbled away, tiny particles of sand skittering across the desert surface.

"What were you talking about?" O'Neill asked after a moment.

She opened one eye to look at him. "How wonderful it is for him to actually get to meet the people he studied as a student."

"Oh."

She closed her eye again, and waited.

"Do you think we... I mean, the us in the future... do you think they've got the message we left now?"

She shrugged. "It's a bit complicated to explain, sir."

"Right. Okay. Have they?"

"They won't get it for another three thousand years. But hopefully, when they do, they'll set the time-ship to come back to before now."

"So why haven't they turned up yet? Why are we still here?"

She sighed. "I don't know. Possibly they never get the message. Maybe they never found the time-ship... I mean, we have to consider the possibility that our travelling back has changed the time-line significantly enough to affect events in out past. Maybe I couldn't set the ship right and we'll turn up some time soon..."

"Or we could be stuck here for the rest of our lives," he said. His fingers were trailing in the sand, drawing aimless patterns. She found her gaze drawn to them.

"Or we could be stuck here for the rest of out lives," she agreed. "It's a possibility we have to consider."

He sighed, frowning slightly, but didn't voice whatever thoughts troubled him. He stared at the Nile, and after a while his frown cleared.

"You think there's good fishing here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in a manner so reminiscent of Teal'c she laughed out loud.

"I think there's a good chance of that, sir. More fish in that big pond than yours."

"Firstly, Carter, it's a river, not a pond. And I don't technically own the pond that you're referring to as mine."

She gave him a grey look. "I know that."

He grinned. "I know you know that. I just like to tease you Carter. Thought you'd know _that_ by now." He yawned, and stretched, the hem of his shirt creeping up his torso. She forced her eyes back onto the river, staring intently at the flickering lights until he spoke again. "So... you wanna go fishing again? After you enjoyed it so much last time?"

"Sure," she replied. "I'm not sure if you'll get Daniel and Teal'c to join you again though."

He coughed. "Actually, I was thinking along the lines of just the two... of... us." He winced. "Is that okay?"

Her hands had found their way into her lap, clasped together so tightly her knuckles were white. "'Course," she answered hoarsely, "Nothing wrong with that, is there? Two... friends... fishing."

"No. Nothing wrong." His fingers were still tracing patterns, drawing dangerously close to her leg. He sighed again. "When will we know?"

"Know what?"

"Know if we've got to spend the rest of our lives here."

"Oh... well. I guess we won't ever... technically. I mean, if the futu– I mean, our past selves... If _we_ screw up the calculations and get here at a different time... we could turn up at any time. If you get what I mean."

His frown suggested that he didn't, but he nodded. "I get." He seemed deflated. _She_

felt deflated, she realised. The idea of never knowing whether the next day could mean a return to their pas–– fut––their _real _lives was unbearable.

The darkness was complete now, and the wind was growing stronger. Teal'c appeared out of the shadows behind them. "O'Neill, Colonel Carter. I believe the evening meal is prepared."

O'Neill stood up with a groan, offering his hand to Carter. She took it gently, and he pulled her to her feet, keeping his palm pressed against hers for a second too long before releasing her.

She smiled at Teal'c, who was watching them both with a shrewd look in his eyes that made her uncomfortable. Teal'c could read her far too well, and she wished she could hide the thoughts she knew were all too clearly visible to the Jaffa. He made no comment, thankfully, and gestured with his arm in the direction the meal was to be served.

* * *

The stars burned coldly in the sky, a myriad of tiny white pin-pricks scattered across the black velvet of night. Shivering a little in spite of her proximity to the fire, she found herself annoyed by a climate that demanded her to put back on the jacket she had left in her tent in the morning.

Something dropped around her shoulders and she jumped.

"I fetched your jacket," O'Neill said, sitting down beside her again. "Thought you might want it."

"You were very quiet," she found herself saying, almost accusingly.

He merely grinned in reply, gesturing with his thumb to the fantastic star-scape. "Beautiful isn't it? No light pollution here. Shows you how much we miss in the night sky back home."

"Mmm."

"_You_ seem pensive."

"I've... just been doing some thinking, that's all, sir."

"When do you _not?_"

She smiled in spite of herself. "Thank you. But... if we, I mean, our alternate selves from our past _do_ manage to sort things out... I think the time-line will be reset so that this... never happens. I mean, even if the eight of us work together... we'll be able to use the time-ship to get the ZPM and get back so that this time we spend trapped here will never have actually happened."

"...Right. So... it's kind of like when me and Teal'c were stuck in the time-loop, yeah? No consequences."

She laughed. "That sounded far too gleeful, sir."

She had expect him to chuckle or make a joke, but instead she found him looking at her intently. "And of course, if we...the other we I mean... don't succeed then we'll never make it home and we'll have to live our lives here."

"Yes."

He stared at the fire for a while. "I think we'll have to put the fishing trip on hold," he said, after a while, "Apparently we're moving tomorrow. The camp has to get out of here, go somewhere else if we want to avoid Ra."

"Right."

Silence reigned for a few minutes, filled with the background noises of the night-time camp. Somewhere a drum was being played, and they could hear voices chanting, singing, laughing. O'Neill found himself staring at his companion again, and was shocked to find that her eyes were shining with tears.

"What's the matter?" he half-whispered, afraid of the answer, his fingertips brushing her shoulder.

She sniffed. "I was just thinking... about if we had used the time-ship differently. Gone back just a few weeks... I was thinking that I might have been able to save my Dad."

He found a lump was rising in his own throat. "Yeah. I thought about... things like that too. About... Charlie."

Her eyes met his. "Do you think we should?"

"Go back and save them?"

She nodded.

He blew up his cheeks, shrugging. "I dunno. I mean, I Charlie... If what happened with Charlie never occurred, I would never have joined the Stargate programme. What's to say that we wouldn't have been wiped out by the Goa'uld if I didn't? Would someone else take my place?"

She pursed her lips, nodding. "I know. But it's still tempting... I-I miss him."

A tear fell from her overloaded eyes onto the sand. It shone for a moment in the starlight before it was absorbed by the sand, leaving a dark splot on the light surface.

He weighed up his options for a moment."Come here," he said, the two words that guaranteed her treacherous insides would turn over.

She let him hug her again, leaning into his embrace this time, so that her head was pulled into his chest. She could feel his breath on the top of her head. He inhaled gently, and her stomach turned over again as she realised he was savouring the smell of her... although why she found his action enjoyable she couldn't say.

She let her tears fall and he rubbed her arm gently, rocking her slightly as she cried until her raw grief seemed to burn itself away and leave nothing more than a feeling of vague emptiness. He released her, and she pulled away from him slowly, allowing her arm to remain in contact with his. After a second's hesitation she let her head drop onto his shoulder.

"Thank you."

"I told you Carter. Always."

She listened to the sound of the drums for a while, the rhythmic rise and fall of voices. "I bet Daniel's getting such a kick out of this," he said quietly.

"Yeah."

Her little finger was touching his. She wasn't quite sure how their hands had moved to be in such close proximity to one another. She looked at their two hands next together, hers paler in the gloom than his, smaller. She stroked his finger with hers and suddenly found his hand sliding over hers, his fingers knitting with hers.

The feeling, somewhere in her chest, surprised her. A fierce joy, overwhelming happiness mixed with the tingling of lust flared inside her, and she wondered how so simple an action could lead to such an intense feeling, a forgotten memory from her teenage years.

His thumb stroked her skin. "You know... if all this hadn't have happened... I was thinking about... doing something that, uh, Kerry suggested, actually."

Her balloon of happiness developed a puncture at the mention of _that_ name, and she hated herself for her response. What right did she, engaged to another man at the time of their relationship, have to be jealous? "Really?" she managed, her tone light.

"Yeah. She, uh... she told me to retire."

"Why?"

The words seemed stuck in his throat. He coughed. "Because she couldn't understand why I was letting the frat regs get in our way."

His words took a moment to sink in. "Christ."

"I think I know what you came to my house to say," he continued, "And Kerry certainly thought she did–"

"I'm sorry Jack, I nev–"

"It's fine. She just... gave me the kick up the ass I needed. I..." he found he couldn't finish his sentence, and decided to try something else. "You know, for a time I really hated you after you got engaged to Pete."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But... I never wanted to stand in the way of your career, and I thought... you know.. You were happy. I wanted you to be happy."

There was no reply she felt she could make, the sick feeling of guilt welling up inside her again. "I made a mess of things," she said, haltingly, "And I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted... and... I'm sorry too."

"What for?"

"Oh, I don't know. Everything?"

She sighed. "What happens now?"

He squeezed her hand. "I don't know," he repeated. Their conversation having apparently reached a standstill he cast around for a different subject. "The fire's burning low."

"Yes. You want to go and find Daniel and Teal'c?"

He glanced at his watch. "I think they'll be back at the tent by now."

She let go of his hand and stood up, kicking sand onto the fire to put it out.

They walked side by side amongst the tents, his arm slung around her shoulders. "I bet Daniel's snoring when we get back."

"_You_ are not the one who's sharing a tent with him," she said, prodding him in the side.

"Oof. Well, you know what Teal'c's like. Hard to get any sleep with him talking all night..."

She laughed. "You see, that's what he always says about you..."

There was a light burning in Carter's tent, two hunched silhouettes projected on the canvas walls. Jack put a finger to his lips and they stood still, listening.

"I bet he's asking her to go fishing with him again. Poor Sam."

"Indeed."

"At least they seem able to refer to one another by their first names now. Although not in each other's company."

"I believe that their entering into a romantic relationship is only a matter of time, Daniel Jackson. We must simply wait a little longer."

"Hey guys!"

Jack O'Neill thrust his head into the tent, making Daniel jump. "Hey Jack. Sam with you?"

"Uh, yeah, she's here. Have we swapped tents or something?"

Daniel smiled, as Teal'c's eyebrow disappeared into his hairline. "Uh yeah. Teal'c says he can't stand another night of your snoring, and as Sam is used to mine I thought she'd be able to cope with one night of yours."

"I do _not_ snore."

"Sorry sir, but I have to agree with Daniel," Sam said, her voice muffled by the tent wall.

Jack withdrew his head as Teal'c and Daniel exchanged a look. "Well, Carter, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're not exactly a silent sleeper either."

Daniel heard her light punch connect with O'Neill's arm and smiled. "Only a matter of time."

* * *

She crawled inside his tent. It was a mess, his bed clothes screwed up. In contrast, Teal'c's former bedroll was neatly folded. She sat on the sleeping bag gingerly, her knees tucked under her chin and arms folded around her legs. "Get the feeling we're being set up?" she asked.

He ignored her question at first, preoccupying himself with his boots. "Maybe."

_Would that be so bad?_

He lay back on his bedroll and yawned. "I'm getting too old for this."

"Camping?"

He shrugged, the intense look reclaiming his eyes again. "That too. I was talking about..." he waved a hand as he tried to give shape to the concept, "... about this. Us."

"Oh."

His arms crept behind his head. "We should have talked about this years ago. I should never have let you leave it in that room."

"You wanted to, as well," she replied, defensively.

"No Carter. I didn't. But I knew you did and I didn't want to damage your career. I couldn't leave SG1, I wouldn't let you and so... so we end up here, four years later in the same place."

"I'm sorry."

"I know. So am I."

She busied herself with unrolling the sleeping bag for a few moments as he stared at the tent ceiling. "Well, we have plenty of opportunity to talk now, sir."

"Yes. We do." He sat up, turning to face her, and placed his chin in his hands.

"So... talking..."

"Awkward, isn't it?"

"Ya think?" she replied, smiling again. His mouth mirrored hers after a second.

"You really think that whatever happens here will be erased, if we get home?"

"Yes."

"Would we... remember?"

"I don't know. You remember the time loops you experienced with Teal'c... what?"

He shrugged again, his smile taking on a decidedly misty edge. "Nothin.'"

"No, tell me. What did you do?"

He paused for a moment and she realised her heart was beating painfully fast. "Lots of things. I learnt to throw a pot. I cycled through the SGC corridors. I played golf with T through the Stargate."

She laughed, half in amusement, half in disbelief. "I don't _believe_ you. What did Hammond say?"

"Say? Not a lot. He shouted a great deal of things, but I wasn't really listening."

"What did _I _say then?"

"I dunno. You were probably off running simulations in your lab. You did that a lot."

She chuckled. "That sounds like me. So that was all you did? Played?"

"Pretty much."

"So... what was the reason for you staring at me."

"I was staring at you?"

"Don't pretend you don't remember. It was... very unlike you."

"Ah. Well... there was _one _loop..."

"Yes?"

"Teal'c was the one that suggested it, actually..."

"Suggested what?"

He licked his lips nervously. "Uh...that I retired."

Her brow creased. "Retired?"

"Yes. I handed in my resignation to Hammond. In the control room, right before the next loop."

She was still frowning at him in confusion. "Why?"

He smiled. "That's what you said at the time."

"I did?"

"Uh-huh."

"Did you give me an answer?"

"Oh yeah."

She sighed in exasperation. "And am I going to have to beat the answer out of you, or are you going to tell me?"

He leaned closer. "So I can do this."

Realisation dawned and she found her eyes drawn to his lips, and the dark stubble, speckled with silver that had been dusted across the top of them. "Oh," she breathed.

His hands found hers and she realised that he was trembling slightly, as she was. She swallowed nervously, her eyes never leaving his, held still by some invisible force when all she could think of was how it would feel for his lips to brush hers...

He kissed her, timidly at first, a chaste kiss. She tugged his arms slightly, willing him not to pull away and he kissed her again, just as gently, his mouth touching only her top lip. Her hands slid along his arm from wrist to elbow, her fingers curling around his upper arm as his fingers touched her waist, thumbs gently stroking across her hip. Her knees bumped against his as they moved closer to one another, as he finally captured her entire mouth with his.

She could hear rapid breathing, her own or his she couldn't tell. Probably both. His hand touched her face and she pulled him forwards, so that they fell onto the sleeping bag she had carefully unrolled, lips still locked together. His weight was welcome, as was his warmth, as they repositioned their legs into a more comfortable pose. Their hips were pressed together now, his arousal made obvious by their close proximity. His hands slid from her waist to under her arms, his thumbs tracing a line along both her sides.

He broke away, and she realised they were both panting. "I can't believe we didn't do this years ago," she said, smiling.

"Yes..well, let's not dwell."


End file.
